St. Louis Blues: Blues at Maple Leafs Report Card

The St. Louis Blues have kicked off the 2019-20 season with a record of 2-0-1. They did this by winning last night against a potent Toronto Maple Leafs offense.

The St. Louis Blues kicked off a nine-day road trip, mostly through Canada, last night in Toronto. Personally, I had this game circled on the schedule because I felt it was going to be a good measuring stick for the beginning of the season to assess where the team defense stood.

Well, the Blues didn’t disappoint, and neither did Jordan Binnington, who was playing in the arena he visited 2-3 times a year as a kid. Watching his Toronto Maple Leafs play and inspiring him to pursue his dream of being a professional hockey player.

The questions heading into this game for me were, is the defense ready to handle the flying and fluid offense of Toronto? Have the Blues addressed the second period flops we’ve seen in the first two games that seemed to carry over into the third? Can we make hay on the power play chances we will get?

Offense- A

The offense was what we have come to expect from the St. Louis Blues. It was aggressive, heavy on the forecheck, and you could see that the team was buying into the hem the Leafs in their end, and they can’t score game plan.

All the lines were skating, checking, and firing shots on goal from all angles. During periods of the game, the Blues had Toronto hemmed in, and it was reminiscent of the style of game we played in the playoffs last year.

The Blues converted three goals from their aggressive forecheck and some heads up passing from their first and second lines. The first goal was a blast from Oskar Sundqvist on a partial breakaway, beating Freddy Andersen just above the left pad and under the glove hand.

It was a good sign to see Sunny net his first one of the season this early. That fourth line is excellent! Ivan Barbashev was a wrecking ball, and Alex Steen showed off his defense with some key blocks in the third.

Defense- A

Anytime you hold John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Morgan Reilly, Tyson Barrie, and William Nylander to one goal and a combined +/- -2, then you have given yourselves a chance to win. With Matthews entering the game on the three-game point streak scoring five goals in those three games, you better be prepared.

The defense was more than ready. Justin Faulk again showed a very strong game, solid at both ends, and he looks to be a really good fit for this club. Faulk makes the pairings even more versatile than the defense was last year.

The forwards were hustling on the backcheck and filling lanes on defense. They allowed two goals, so they weren’t perfect. It happened in a span of about 20 seconds, in the second period where Toronto was pressing. They had St. Louis hemmed in the way the Blues do to other teams.

After the second goal, I wondered what our response would be. I knew how we’d respond last year, but it’s a new season, and we all know that what happened last season doesn’t guarantee a carry over to the next season.

The Blues went right back to it and were able to hold Toronto off the board the rest of the game. Ultimately tying it and getting the game-winner from captain Alex Pietrangelo.

Goaltending- A

Jordan Binnington was solid again in this game. His positioning and movement from post to post is in midseason form. He is reading plays as well as any veteran netminder can. The goal by Nylander was nearly unstoppable.

The other goal was a heads up play by Jason Spezza knocking the puck over Binnington to the open side of the net where Frederik Gauthier was standing to knock it in.

Binnington made some fantastic saves and even made one that was almost exactly like the save he made with his right pad in the cup final against Boston.

Although Binnington was solid, he was not solely the reason Toronto only scored two goals. Binnington and the Blues were fortunate as well. The Maple Leafs smacked three posts in this game, and Matthew’s shot hitting the post is still ringing in the distance to this very moment.

Special Teams- C

The penalty kill was great again holding the Maple Leafs to a 0 -2 mark. There were some moments where that Leafs offense moved the puck so quickly that it was inevitable they were going to hit the open man for a grade-A scoring chance.

When those chances came, Binnington did what every goalie on the penalty kill is expected to do, and that’s be the best penalty killer on the ice. The penalty kill gets an A+ for holding this immensely talented and skilled power play off the board.

The power play, on the other hand, drags the special teams grade down again as they went 0-3 and nearly gave up another short-handed goal. If not for Binnington’s reenactment of the right pad save from the Cup Final, it could be a different game altogether, and the power play would be the reason for the loss again.

We saw a couple of different looks this game with the last power play featuring Vince Dunn and Colton Parayko on the points. Parayko on his one-timer side. He got off one slap shot that missed the net, so it was for nothing, but I hope to see them go to this a little more during the season.

So yet again, the power play gets an F- bringing the special teams’ score to a C.

Coaching- B

The power play is not only dragging down the special teams, but it’s leaving a black eye on the coaching grade as well. The Blues need to figure out their power play. The principles of five-on-five carry right over to the man advantage, yet on the Blues, it seems puck control and tenacity go to the wayside when they are on the man advantage.

They get a B because the rest of the game the Blues seemed prepared and well versed in the game plan and were buying into the game plan nearly all 60 minutes. That’s coaching. The second period let down wasn’t as apparent as the previous two games, and the guys held Toronto’s top scorers off the board.

Overall- A-

The team looked sharp this game. Tenacious, heavy, and more conscious of puck control. I didn’t see as many turnovers as we had seen in the second periods of the first two games, and the fourth line did what they have been known to do, and that’s shut down the opposition’s best lines.

Even more encouraging, is this team still has room to improve in all areas, and they have already defeated teams like Dallas and Toronto, and if not for a poor second period and carry over to the third could’ve won against Washington.

The season looks bright to this Bleedin’ Blue fan, and I’m excited to see how we look when the rest of the offense really starts to click. The Blues are up next on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (CST) in Ottawa.

Another good litmus test I believe as last season we seemed to let off the gas against the teams we should handle easily and lose or nearly lose those games. Brady Tkachuk is the future of Ottawa, along with Thomas Chabot.

The season looks bright, and the Blues are letting the league know that the road to the Cup goes through the Arch. It’s a long season, and I don’t want to get too far ahead. There are going to be some struggles and let downs, but through three games with a 2-0-1 record, we’re off on the right foot.

Drop the puck!